Monday, November 01, 2010

The International Commons Conference starts in Berlin today -- with the aim of "Constructing a Commons-Based Policy Platform".

Essentially the aim is to bring together representatives from all the open, free and "commons" movements to discuss what they share in common -- in the hope that a more unified approach will emerge, and the necessary networks will be created to enable the larger movement become more politically effective.

I discussed the background to the conference in a recent interview with the event organiser Silke Helfrich here.

As Helfrich put it, "The global movement of commoners today is eclectic and growing, but fragmented ...Taken together all these movements are actually part of a big civic movement that is about to discover its own identity, just as the environmental movement did some 30 or 40 years ago."

She added: "Co-operation is the best way for them to grow and become politically relevant. So the goal should be to persuade the various advocates that they have much to gain from working together."